Saturday, May 4, 2013

DIY Laundry Detergent Try 2

I am in the process of trying out as many different DIY laundry detergent recpies as I can find. You can see my first attempt Here.Todays Laundry Detergent Recipe comes from How Does She. Of course I changed around the recipe a bit, so that might have something to do with it not working as well. I omitted the purex crystals fabric softener, I use vinegar for a fabric softener, besides one of the things I like about DIY laundry soap I can omit the things I think will make my allergies go nuts.

Ingredients:

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax

1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean

2 (14.1 oz) Bars of Fels Naptha)

1 (4 lb) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda-

Directions

1. Grate Fels Naptha soap with cheese grater.

2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bucket.

3. Use 2 -4 Tablespoons per laundry load.Mind you I learned my lesson last time, and decreased the recipe so I only make enough for a few loads.Cleaning: 10/10 This works wonders! It even got anal gland debris out of my scrubs (a common occupational hazard when one works in a vet clinic)

Ease of Use: 8/10 The powder is awesome, I just kept it in a mason jar with an old measuring spoon and dumped in how much I needed. I don't know if I make the full recipe though... We live in a tiny apartment it might be hard to store a whole bucket of detergent.Allergies: 1/10 Ugh I should have known it was too good to be true. I broke out in hives on week 2 of using this detergent. I am leaning towards it being the Fels Naptha, but it is hard to say what caused it. Cost: 8/10 Borax $10 Washing Soda $5.00 Oxy Clean $9.00 2 bars Fels Naptha $8.50 1 box baking soda $8.50Altogether $41 dollars for what the original poster says is about 288 loads So about 0.14 cents per load, not bad at all. The allergies really make this recipe a no go for us long term, but other people should have a lot of luck with it. You can see atempt number 2 here.